Grill Music Venue

The Grill Music Venue, also known as The Grill, formerly The Golden Grill, is an Irish nightclub located in Letterkenny, County Donegal. Regarded as the unofficial Fianna Fáil headquarters,[1] it has hosted everything from Fianna Fáil party conventions to bingo sessions over the years.

The complex houses six bars: Black Bar, VIP members bar and Ocean's Restaurant, Bar and Casino. The other three are located in the Main Room.

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Established by former Fianna Fáil Senator Bernard McGlinchey, the venue first opened in 1961. A key success factor for the complex was its 1,000 car parking spaces. Bellas Club was born in the seventies and the Millionaire Club opened in the eighties.

Forty-six years after it first opened the entertainment complex underwent a major €2 million refurbishment. 21 Spaces, a Dublin-based, Donegal-owned interior design company, designed the newly refurbished complex. The team was also behind the Oceans Restaurant which is incorporated into the Grill facility. After its refurbishment the venue now houses six bars and two smoking areas.[2]

In 2004, Bernard McGlinchey revealed to the Donegal News how he was able to license the premises. He stated the law had been against him as, in the 1960s, a licence-holder needed to prove the population of the parish area had increased by 33%.[citation needed] This was disputed, as at the time he was in the Seanad and former Taoiseach Charles Haughey was Minister for Justice and had set about finalising the new Liquor Act and inserted a clause which changed the law for urban areas.[1]

The Grill Music Venue was raided by the Garda Síochána, on Saturday 29 March 2008. The Gardaí seized drink they believed was being sold without a licence under Section 24 of the 1874 Licensing Act.[3][4]

The management of the venue subsequently renewed their licence and took court action to recover tens of thousands of euros worth of drink seized from the premises by gardaí.[5][6]

The Grill remained shut unexpectedly on the weekend of the 2 and 3 August 2008.[7] This is a public holiday in Ireland and is known to be one of the busiest throughout the year. It was later revealed that the business had been placed on the property market after confirmation that it had gone into receivership with debts to the value of €8.2 million. Advertisements announcing the sale of the premises by private treaty appeared in weekend newspapers.[8][9]

The premises re-opened under company name Golden Grill Letterkenny Ltd. after the local Tinney family bought the venue.[10]